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Friday, January 17, 2014

If it’s one of those Friday nights where you’d like to have a wild night
but need to get up early the next morning, then I have an idea for you — go see
The Wolf Of Wall Street.

Exiting the theater on a wet, rainy Friday night, I felt
like I just had a long evening of nonstop partying, excessive debauchery, and
sidesplitting laughs. However, I really just sat inside a mall movie house for
three hours.

Yeh, this film could have been edited down, but it never
got boring and I laughed — a lot. As proven by the heartbreaking, tough, slow final moments of
this film, director Martin Scorsese
definitely had the right approach to the Jordan Belfort story by using excess
and excessive comedy.

And Leonardo DiCaprio
finally has his Gordon Gekko movie moment.

Simply put: Don’t go with the whole family.

Award potential: Despite 506 uses of the F word, expect nominations for Best
Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay andBest Actor. It will probably rank fourth in the number nominations
to a movie, but I don’t expect any wins.

“If it was never new,
and it never gets old, then it’s a folk song.” -Llewyn Davis

Inside
Llewyn Davisfollows a week in the
life of a struggling folk singer (Oscar Issac), as he navigates the pre-Bob Dylan
Greenwich Village folk scene of 1961 and takes a road
trip to find legendary producer Bud Grossman (Homeland’s F. Murray Abraham).

The
music, overseen by T. Bone Burnett, cleverly corresponds with each concept of the story.
And often, with this main character that is often short on words, the tunes
complete the film’s thoughts.

With
Llewyn, a musician slipping through the cracks, it seems the cynical, philosophical Coen brothers
have a self righteous, self destructing hero that even they could love. Thoughtful audiences will too.

Folks will either find it to be a major downer or one of the most memorable movie
experiences of the year. For me, it was the latter.

Simply
put:Offbeat and endearing to some; it’s a folkin' divider.

Award potential: Newcomer Oscar Isaac
was nominated for a Golden Globe in the comedy/music category but the senior competition
is too tough for the Best Actor
Oscar. A Best Screenplay nomination
is this film’s best hope at an Academy Award nod.

Yes, JT is just fine in his role but nothing more. Casey
Mulligan, as she did in The Great Gatsby,
Drive, Public Enemies and even Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps, sucks
the life out of every scene she is in.

Best
ActorBruce Dern, NebraskaLeonardo DiCaprio, The
Wolf of Wall StreetChiwetel Ejiofor, 12
Years A SlaveTom Hanks, Captain
PhillipsMatthew McConaughey, Dallas
Buyers ClubWatch
out for: The Gatsbys! Between the two 77-year
old, original Great Gatsby co-stars,
Bruce Dern gets nominated instead of Robert Redford (All Is Lost). If Leo DiCaprio, the current Gatsby, doesn’t make the list, Joaquin Phoenix (Her) instead of Redford.

Her appeals to your head and your heart, with a character that
has neither.

A withdrawn and
newly single writer (Joaquin Phoenix) falls in love with his computer's highly
advanced operating system (voiced by Scarlett Johansson) in a very original boy-meets-operating-system
romance.

Her is more than another idiosyncratic
take on the world from Spike Jonze (Being
John Malkovich, Adaptation).
It has a lot of serious stuff to say about life and love. More than
most flicks this year, Her gives
moviegoers a lot to think about and discuss.

Just like the main
characters, romance and sci-fi are infused effortlessly. It’s not just one of the best movies of the
year. It’s one of the best movies of the past ten years.

Simply
put:Siri, find a ticket now.

Award
potential: Expect nominations for
Best Picture and Best Original
Screenplay. I’m hoping for Best
Original Song. In another year, without strong performances from famous
folks who really want the nomination, Joaquin
Phoenix would be recognized despite his ambivalence to awards.

Thursday, January 9, 2014

This black and white
film has some of the most colorful characters of the year.

Director Alexander
Payne (Sideways, The Descendants)
takes us to small town Missouri and Nebraska for what turns out to be big fun
at the movies.

For Bruce Springsteen
fans, this black and white film immediately brings to mind Springsteen’s cover
art for his 1982 album Nebraska. The songs on that superb album deal
with ordinary, blue collar characters that face a turning point in their lives,
but it’s a dark album with little hope. I thought that’s the movie I was going
to see.

Nebraska is not a bleak
film at all. I laughed at something from every character in this
film: Bruce Dern, Will Forte, Stacy Keach, June Squibb and a collection of
folks that are surely the real thing.

Simply
put:It’s a touching film that should not be
overlooked.

Award
potential: Bruuuuuuuuuce! A career performance
by Bruce Dern (Coming Home,The
Great Gatsby) destined to nominated
and a front runner to win. The movie and June Squibb might get an Oscar nomination
too.

Wednesday, January 8, 2014

Those kooky folks at the Globes picked Avatar over
Hurt Locker – will they pick Gravity or Hustle over 12 Years A Slave?
Predicting what 90 random Hollywood Foreign Press members picked is a daunting
task, but last year I was 82% correct, sohere's what's gonna happen on Sunday night:

Best Actor (Drama)

Matthew McConaughey, Dallas Buyers Club

McConaughey’s best work in his comeback year.

Watch out for:Chiwetel
Ejiofor if 12 Years a Slave sweeps.
They love him and nominated him for Kinky
Boots. He’s the frontrunner in most races, but I see this group checking
the box for McConaughey.

Best Actress (Drama)

Cate Blanchett, Blue Jasmine

You could have called
this one in July and I did. A highly respected, top tier actress playing an
unforgettable character.

Watch out for: Sandra
Bullock, who was in every stellar scene of Gravity,
a film that might do a surprise sweep on the show.

Best Supporting Actor

Jared Leto, Dallas Buyers Club

This is a tough
category, but Jared Leto in a dress has the edge.

Watch out for: The
phenomenal Michael Fassbender in 12 Years
a Slave

Best Supporting Actress

Lupita Nyong'o, 12 Years a Slave

She’ll probably
surprise as best dressed too.

Watch out for: American Hustle’s Jennifer Lawrence, who’s
a frontrunner but handicapped only by being last year’s winner for Silver Lining’s Playbook.

Best Actress (Comedy or Musical)

Amy Adams, American Hustle

A well loved
movie. A well loved actress. Anything could happen in the comedy category.

Watch out for: The Euro-awesome
Julie Delpy, in most unfunny movie of the year, Before Midnight. Really, that was a comedy?

Best Actor (Comedy or Musical)

Leonardo DiCaprio, Wolf Of Wall Street

This is an award that goes to actors like Jim Carrey, Sasha Cohen Baron and Robert Downey Jr. But this year we have Bale, Dern and DiCaprio with comedic roles in quality movies - so who knows. But Leo had never been better and is in almost every scene of this 3-hour film.

Watch out for: A lot of love
for Bruce Dern, Nebraska, who would appreciate a win the most.

Best Animated Feature Film

Frozen

The easiest call
of the night. Monsters, University might have been a rival to watch out for, but it wasn’t
even nominated.

Best Foreign Language Film

The Great Beauty, ItalyHmmm. Do you
think the Hollywood Foreign Press will appreciate the story of an aging
journalist on his rounds through the excesses of the Eternal City in director PaoloSorrentino's love letter to FedericoFellini's classic La
Dolce Vita ?

Watch out for: A
nod of support to the controversial Blue
is the Warmest Color

Best Screenplay

Her, Spike
Jonze

A very original,
original script has an edge over the adapted ones.

Watch out for:The movie that sweeps: 12 Years a Slave or American Hustle

Best Original Song

Ordinary Day performed by U2 - Mandela: The Long Walk to Freedom

Inside Llewyn Davis’ American Folk music or Mandela and Bono? U2
is just what the Hollywood Foreign Press likes to reward.

Watch out for: A curveball from Let It Go
from Frozen, performed by Wicked’s Idina Menzel

Best Original Score:Steven Price, GravityThis memorable score is
the standout.

Watch out for: If
Zimmer’s 12 Years a Slave is part of
a big sweep.

Best Director

Alfonso Cuarón, GravitySimply the most standout choice.

Watch out for:
David O. Russell, in an American Hustle
sweep or Steve McQueen in a 12 Years A
Slave sweep.

Best Motion Picture (Comedy or Musical)

American HustleIn a very
competitive category of drama/comedy films and cool music soundtracks, American Hustle has all of this — and
good timing.

Watch out for: The Wolf of Wall Street, and any movie
in this category

Best Motion Picture (Drama)

Gravity

I boldly predict
the awards-love for Gravity and Alfonso
Cuarón is going to start Sunday night, which will rock the front-runner status
of 12 Years A Slave, the most worthy film but a film that might not have impacted this group of foreign journalists.

Thursday, January 2, 2014

Surprisingly, the
story of the Abscam scandal is not a serious film. But it is a seriously good
film.

Director David O.
Russell’s skillfully executed American
Hustle offers so many breezy pleasures while telling the serious story of
the Abscam affair, the preposterous-but-true 1970’s criminal investigation in
which the F.B.I. utilized a swindler to ensnare public officials.

The opening tag tells
us, “Some of this actually happened,” and the film benefits from that
heightened reality approach by utilizing its garrulous characters.

The casts of
Russell’s The Fighter and The Silver Linings Playbook combined, plus Jeremy
Renner and Louis C.K play these over-the-top characters zestfully. That means
we get Christian Bale, Bradley Cooper, Amy Adams, Jennifer Lawrence and Robert
DeNiro — all in their David O. Russell groove. Foxy!

Simply
put:Ridiculously entertaining and impeccably cast. Do the Hustle!

Award
potential:Every actor above is a front-runner in
his or her category. The film and director also are shoo-ins. Best Screenplay,
Cinematography, Costume and more should place this film just behind 12 Years A
Slave and Gravity for multiple Oscar nominations.

A Disney Studios film
about the backstory of how Disney’s Mary
Poppins came to the screen in 1964 could have been something quite
atrocious. It’s not.

Much
of the credit for this film has to go to Emma Thompson, who is in almost every
scene. And Hanks makes for a likeable and animated Mr. Disney. The movie needed
his Hollywood stature and personality to play such an American icon. And good
news for those who saw The Sound Of Music
Live, Carrie Underwood does NOT play Julie Andrews.

Ultimately,
this is a light documentary subject for a feature film during award season, yet
I was fully intrigued. In fact, I think I’m guilty of humming a song or two on
the way out, and I downloaded a biography of P.L. Travers that night.

Simply
put:A delightful Hollywood true story, with just
a spoonful of sugar to make this the perfect family film for the holiday
season.

Award
potential:Thompson and Hanks are likely nominees.
Neither will win. The film may be too sugary self-aware coming from Disney
Studios to capture a Best Picture nomination, but it’s on the shortlist of ten
movies that will likely get a nod.

Bilbo Baggins is back. But is the second installment
of Peter Jackson's trilogy worth another 161 minutes of your precious time?

The
middle film about the Hobbit and Middle Earth falls you-know-where between the first
film, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey,and the fantastic The
Lord Of The Rings trilogy.

The Desolation of Smaug jumps straight into the action and
doesn't relent until the cliffhanger ending.This action-oriented addition to the series is a fine
improvement over the slower first offering, which spent appropriate (but often
slow) time introducing us to the film’s characters.

Only five of the
book's chapters are adapted here — the rest is added for the film series. The Hobbit series would probably have
made a single film that would be easier to praise, but I thoroughly enjoyed
myself anyway.